The River
by LostInTheDreams
Summary: What happened that night, after Hunter went tumbling over the cliff? When the focus was on Morgan, what happened behind the curtain on the opposite end of things? See things from when the hunter was the prey from the eyes of the Seeker.


AN: This is Hunter's POV from the few scenes that are done out of sight of the readers from THE SWEEP series, most of it taking place between book 3ish and book 5ish. Every time I use (...)'s in the the story it's to show a time skip to the next portion that lacked Hunters shown actions.

* * *

**The River**

…

_There's no earthly way of knowing_

_Which direction we are going_

_There's no knowing where we're rowing_

_Or which way the river's flowing  
\- Willy Wonka_

…

I've been in dangerous situations before. They all come with the job and I've gotten used to watching my back. Training has left me prepared to deal with surprise attacks, angry witches, and any halfwit who thinks they can interfere with me.

I've never run into a situation where my instincts haven't served me well.

Maybe they were just as frozen as I was, snow having crept its way down my hood, numbed my injuries as my own blood warmed them up once more. The sudden pain was a shock to me as something struck me hard enough that I lost all focus on my job – mostly consisting of Cal beneath me, as good as _mine_ – forcing me to let him go and raise my hand to the wound. I felt my own warm blood on my hands as I did, turning to find where the attack had come from.

Morgan stood like a deer in the headlights, eyes widening when they met mine. An untrained witch in a fight like this, I hadn't been worried about. Maybe I should have been.

Cal didn't give me much more time to think, having squirmed away from me in only a second to land a kick to my stomach. Hands tied, he really had no other option, and I went to take a step back and figure out what to do – see how badly I was hurt.

Only I wasn't allowed that step. Fighting over a cliff might be dramatic in movies but I hadn't intended it. Cal had simply stopped there when he had no where further to run to and it was clear of trees, so I hadn't had issue with it. By all accounts, I should have been thinking more clearly. Maybe my brain cells were partially frozen too.

Shit.

It was about the only word that came to me as I took my hand off the wound at my neck and reached for _anything_ to keep myself from falling. Unlike movies there was no convenient hanging branch or jutted out piece of earth to help, and I felt my stomach leave me as I fell.

My air left me soon after, when I hit the water.

It was freezing, soaking me from head to toe in a matter of only seconds. I reached up, trying to find the surface, but the current and fall had obviously turned me around when I scraped my fingers across the bottom, rocks cutting up my knuckles and my blood warm enough to allow me to feel it for a few seconds before it was numbed like the rest of my body.

The current threw me around like a rag doll and, after hitting my head against what could only be the bed or the bank of the river itself, I curled myself up and let my less fragile body parts take the brunt of the impacts.

Reaching out, hoping I wouldn't break my arm as I was tossed around, I managed to miss a few of the larger stones that littered the riverbed before I managed a good enough purchase that I wasn't swept back into the darkness.

The breath I took when I was able burned my lungs something horrible, but I was breathing. It was enough for now. I moved my legs, trying to find the bottom, but it was too deep. I should be thankful for that or the fall itself would have likely killed me instantly.

I was weak, tired, bleeding, and numb to the point where I knew I wouldn't be able to hold on, even with a good hold. Reaching up further, I pulled myself so I would be resting on the rock, thankful it wasn't as jagged as most in the river seemed to be. I felt myself shiver a bit before my body gave up on even that, likely considering the waste of energy a lost cause.

I was going to die.

There were times, enough fights, that I had found myself on the losing end before. None of them though, had ever gotten this bad. The world around me was graying, black shadows forming either from the late night, the trauma, or the fact that my body was giving up on my vision as well.

Had I not been hurt and bleeding I still would have never chanced a river this late, fully clothed, and in some of the coldest weather I've been in since arriving. Around me I could swear there was even more snow falling, if it weren't for the fact that it was likely also my vision messing with me.

_Hunter_.

Hmm. I thought I heard my name. I wasn't sure how I could have. It had to be late still, the sun hadn't come up. I was sure I was in and out of consciousness for a little. Sky wouldn't be missing me for a while. I hadn't told her where I was going. The council hadn't given me permission yet to take action. I knew though, if I had Cal, we could get our proof and no one would have to get hurt. We could…

_Hunter._

I was sure I heard my name that time. It was closer and whoever was screaming it was frantic enough that their voice was echoing around the slightly wooded area around me, the sound of streetcars and other noises too far away to dilute it.

Sky? How?

I took in a breath, seeing it fog a bit in front of my face. I tried yelling back to her but only coughed, a hand going back to the wound at my neck when doing so caused it to open more and fresh skin that still had the ability to feel was exposed.

"Hunter!"

Thank the Goddess. I could hear footsteps along with my name this time, crunching along as the person ran through the snow, towards where I was, part of my brain starting to thaw a bit – or not caring that it couldn't and working with what little of it was left.

"Wait!" The word didn't come out loudly but the footsteps stopped. I struggled to get myself up on the rock better, turning and seeing that yes, it was Sky in her dark clothing and light hair that was shining like a star in the night, come to my rescue.

The water was loud and churning around me. She'd be half-frozen herself if she came to get me, even more so because I knew we couldn't possibly be near the roadway and a walk to her car, in the snow, soaking wet, would have us both dead before we could make it back to wherever she parked. Too bloody far away would be the only option.

So that left me with only one option myself. I'd have to go back in the river. Being as weak as I was, there was no way I'd be able to make it to the bank without getting swept back in it.

"Do you have a-" I had to stop and clear my throat, feeling how raw it was. I'd finally gotten over that spell they'd worked on me and I'd be on the road to recovery over a real illness. "Do you have a rope or something you can throw to me?"

"Yeah, actually, I do." Sky scrambled into a little bag I hadn't noticed that she'd brought, bringing out an extension cord I knew we had used at the house. "I was in a rush. This should work though, right?"

"Perfect." I felt my eyes lid as I watched her, the world around me going far too dark as it did. I held a hand out, watching it sway before me as if I were some drunk. "You may have to pull me in."

"Just don't let go," Sky spoke as she skipped across the embankment she was on to get as close to me as she could, standing on one of the other slick rocks and worrying me as she threw. Sky's a smart girl, she didn't aim for me. She tossed the cord so that it would land around the rock, the water holding it in place. I reached down and grabbed it, making sure my frozen fingers could hold onto it and not daring to grab any part other than the edge, where the connector piece was.

The water wasn't nearly as cold the second time I went in. Most of my body had still been in it, and the part of me that was exposed to the wind and freezing air only felt warmer, which was not a good sign.

I held on as I tried to get to the side, feeling the water take me. With Sky on one end it simply pulled me to the side and I was able to reach up and touch earth, snow turning red under my fingertips as I did, nothing to hold onto.

Slowly Sky made her way towards me, grabbing onto my coat sleeve where I was desperately trying to hold. She pulled, strong for a girl and strong for her age, but not strong enough to lift me, let alone my weight when I was soaking wet.

Turning my body, I was able to push off the ground and more or less roll into the freezing snow, panting as I lay on my back and hearing Sky pant along with me.

"_Thank you_." She deserved that, at the very least.

"Thank me when you don't look half dead still." Not nearly as winded or tired as me, Sky stood, pulling me until I was sitting beside her. She stripped my jacket off of me and replaced it with a blanket. I recognized her smell from it, opening my eyes and seeing that it was the one off the bed she had been using.

"_Someone came prepared_," I joked, my brain still not functioning at the level I was used to working at.

"You should take your shirt off too and the pants. Do it in the car though. I'm not dragging you there naked unless I have to." Getting under the blanket herself, she put one of my arms over her shoulder. "Can you walk?"

Could I? I didn't think so. As she stood I was able to take some of my weight though, stumbling a few steps, feeling that I was doing more harm than good when it came to placing us in the right direction.

"You're freezing!" Sky complained, grabbing the side of the blanket she wasn't on and tucking it around me as she more or less carried me back to the car. "What happened?"

What happened? Hm. Well, I was a fool. I'd run in, knowing that I was trying to stop things before they went too far, but I was careless. I had no backup, no permission, and I very well could have just gotten myself killed for my carelessness.

A hand went to my neck again. I stared at my fingers when I pulled it away, the blood still running down freely. I had no idea how badly I was hurt but that would be the most grievous of the wounds I remembered getting. "_Morgan…_" The world veered out of focus, flashes of angry white and black clashing right before I passed out.

…

The world came back to me in measures. My first sensations were of pain. My head hurt, terribly so, my neck second as I moved to make sure my brains weren't falling out of the side of it. Skull intact aside from a cut near the base of my hairline, near my temple, meant that it was likely only a headache.

When I opened my eyes the flickering of firelight met me, along with the dim light of the outside that was sneaking its way in past the heavy curtains we had needed to get to fight off the cold front.

I groaned, trying to lift myself up off the couch, as comfortable as I found it, and was greeted by noise this time in the form of heavy footsteps as Sky raced over to me and forced my shoulder down, making me draw in a hissed breath.

"Don't move." Pushing the covers up on either side of me, she tucked me in in a way that made it hard for me to get myself back up. "You still have a really high fever. I'm not a doctor. I can't treat everything. If you get worse I'm taking you to the hospital."

It was a small town, Widows Vale. If I were at a hospital, I'd be checked in under my real name and odds are any of the enemies I'd already made here would be able to find me. That was likely why Sky had me on the couch.

"You'll have to put up with it. Your room is too cold anyway, even if I had some way to drag you up those stairs." A cool hand on my forehead relaxed me as I closed my eyes and she continued talking. "And, for the record, I wasn't going to take _all_ your clothes off, so I hope you're mostly warm by now."

I would have been embarrassed about that if I weren't so tired and the situation so dire that she had need to _mostly_ undress me while I had been unconscious.

"_I'm scared. Stay awake a little longer, please?_"

Opening my eyes back up was harder than it should have been. One of them hurt, either from the river or my fight right before it. My breathing was funny from both, I knew, as I could somehow smell the coppery blood that had to have dried there. I wasn't in very good shape, but Sky wasn't either. I could stay awake a bit more.

"Can you talk? Can you eat? Can I get you something? Can you tell me what happened?" The questions were there, rushed because of worry, but not very demanding. Nodding hurt too much so I took in a breath, trying not to wince at the pain that laced down my back when I did.

"_I can speak_." My voice came out hoarse but audible. "_What time is it?"_

"A little after ten. You've been asleep about six hours or so, maybe a little less. It was hard to tell. You kept mumbling something to me and I wasn't sure if you were really asleep."

Ten. Hours. Plenty of time for Selene and the others to have moved on and out of my reach. But they wouldn't. Not now. For one, they thought I was dead. For another, I had no proof and no way of getting it, even alive, the way I was now. I let out a breath, trying to be careful of how much I moved. "_I was watching for Cal. I know they told me to wait but it was getting so hard… when he just stepped out I thought I had my chance. It was late, I didn't see Selene's car. It was the best chance I had…"_

Sky had known that I'd been watching their house. She had taken shifts with me when I felt it prudent to be there. There were several prominent people from clans the council has had their eyes on and still I hadn't gotten permission to take any action. They were about to do something, kill someone if they wished, many someones if they wished, and there was nothing I would be able to do about it – unless I acted.

Maybe it was foolish, maybe it wasn't, but I thought if I could just save _one_ person, it would be worth it. The same person I had been trying to protect from them had been the one who just tried to kill me, though.

I laughed. It hurt. Sky watched me, confusion and worry painted across her face. The laughing turned into coughs before the room petered off into silence. I let it draw out a bit as I took in a few controlled breaths, easing my tired lungs.

"You know, you should have called. I would have come right away."

"_I know._" I should have, but it was my job to do, not hers, and I hadn't expected to _lose_ that fight. "_It would have been fine. Me against him, I knew I'd win. I should have waited until he was alone. I didn't expect Morgan to be with him_."

"That girl?" Sky's tone was harsh, harsher than it had to be. 'That girl' had been the reason I had her miss work a few times. I had wanted both houses watched and, doing this job alone, there had been no one else to ask. She'd helped me protect the place. Sky had done a lot and asked for nothing in return.

Maybe some people just didn't want to be saved. But that was my job and I'd do it, even against their will. At this point though, that didn't seem possible. This was a fight that I was destined to lose. I couldn't do this on my own, or even with Sky's help.

"_Thank you, again_." My eyes fluttered closed a few times. "_I'll be fine, Athar, trust me. I need rest."_

"Okay. Think you can eat something?"

"_Mmm_." I would have shaken my head if I could. Speaking was taxing enough; I wasn't going to try eating. "_Later. Promise._"

Her cool hand was back on my head and I heard her speak some whispered words, unsure if she was telling me something or if it was some kind of spell. I was asleep the next second and I forgot to ask her in the morning, so I couldn't be sure.

…

Days. It took me _days_ to be able to sit up and eat on my own. I had a pretty badly colored eye and I could only thank the Goddess that my nose hadn't been broken. My neck hurt to move but the wound wasn't bad. That it had missed anything important and not killed me was a blessing.

Bandaged up, I looked like some kind of street fighter. I was able to eat and dress on my own though, if not be careful with how quickly I turned my head. Nothing was broken and I wasn't going to waste any time now that I wasn't stuck in bed.

There were more people than ever at Selene's. A few had the hairs on the back of my neck standing up simply by walking _from their cars!_ It was insane what Selene was trying to get away with! There was so much dark magic swirling around the house that the _air_ practically tasted of it!

That wasn't any real proof though. It didn't look like Morgan was around either, though I did spot Cal coming and going a few times that day. I clenched my hand at my side, wanting to go over and just… but I couldn't. Every time I saw that smug look on his face I had to reign in my anger. My job wasn't to seek out just him, and something big was happening here. As long as I kept my silence, I could at least observe them without them knowing. It gave me the upper hand. That was something to come out of this mess.

Worried after several days of not seeing her, I went to Morgan's place.

If they had killed her… But no, there she was, up in her room. I let out a relieved breath, unsure why I was happy to see her alive. She had tried to _kill_ me. I shouldn't care if she was still breathing. But I did. Selene was no more powerful than she had been before and their little pet still had a heartbeat.

Then she turned and I saw her eyes practically meet mine. How? I ran, throwing up as many spells as I could to hide my presence. Crap! If she had seen me, she'd tell the others, and any plans of catching them in the act would be gone!

* * *

…

There was no change at the house. I let myself relax, unsure of what that could have meant. Maybe she thought she was seeing a ghost and wrote the whole experience off. I could only hope.

* * *

…

I wasn't the only one who was worried. There were members of Starlocket, the coven that Selene had started when she first moved here, that were having their doubts. Alyce had come to me a few times now, since I had been in town, and been a great source of information.

Unfortunately she wasn't feeling well. They both lived above the shop so I went there to meet with them, David welcoming me downstairs and locking the door behind him. I frowned at it, tipping my head sideways a bit to meet his eyes with the question.

"You never know who might try and listen in if we have the store open, and with Alyce not feeling well I wouldn't be able to run it and have any kind of decent conversation with you in any case." The man, somewhere in his later years but not old enough to have the gray hairs on his head that he had, led me towards the back of the darkened store. "Come on, sit. We have a lot to talk about."

…

I waited a few moments before letting out a breath, Morgan storming out of the shop. She'd be able to unlock the door just fine though David was on his way after her, likely to lock it again.

"That was eventful."

Sky turned on me, scowling. "And just what do you think you're doing?! You know how dangerous it is to be around her! Why didn't you ask me to come with you?!"

"I didn't know she'd be here." I stared after David, the material separating the back room still swaying after he left. "I don't think David did either." I never really believed that old saying that everything happens for a reason but, as of late, things seemed to be turning out that way. "She's not dangerous, just misinformed."

Sky crossed her arms, obviously still angry with me. I hadn't done anything so there wasn't much I could do to make up for it. "That's the most deadly kind of dangerous. Do you know how close you were to dying because of her?"

"Vividly." I pulled my scarf off now that she was gone. I hadn't wanted to show it off to the room but the back room we were in was hot, even with the door still open. I still had a bit of a fever so I'd blame my body regulation on that. "She's being used though and she doesn't understand what's going on. It'll get her killed."

"Or _you_ killed!"

"Or me," I acknowledged. "This is a bad time to leave her alone though. She knows I wasn't lying now, and I get why she thought I was. If they think of her as an enemy now…" I turned to Sky, catching her eye.

Sighing, Sky rolled her eyes. "Sometimes you can be such a fool."

All I could do back was smile, though I knew she was right.

* * *

…

I traded shifts with Sky. She had to go to work and had been watching the block Morgan lived on for any traffic, not going near the house. There really was no need to. As much as this revolved around magick, we all needed cars to get around, and it would be easy to spot the big hunk of metal that Morgan drove or Cal's bright gold car.

I wasn't as good at waiting.

Not knowing what drew me closer, I crept on to the property where Morgan lived. Brushing my hand over one of the windowsills I knew Sky and I had passed over, I saw a glimmer of new sigils. I had to smirk at that. If Cal thought he could erase my own, he was obviously mistaken.

It took only a minute or two before I turned, seeing the outdoor light come on in the distance and hearing the crunch of snow as Morgan herself came over to me. My eyes widened a bit. I knew she had power so it shouldn't have surprised me that she knew I was there.

I was tempted to great her with a casual hello but felt it out of place. When she yelled at me instead I felt a bit relieved, unsure of how I would have started this conversation myself.

"Can you see in the dark?" I asked, curious, and because I didn't want to respond to her aggression with further aggression. I didn't feel any at the moment, just honest curiosity about her, about what would happen now. She was clearly still dealing with the fact that I wasn't as out to get her as she thought I had been.

"Yes, of course. Can't every witch?" Morgan seemed surprised, staring at me with a level of confusion that had any doubt that she'd be trying to hide something from me leave my mind.

"No." I didn't know why I felt like explaining things to her. She was new to all this and somehow got herself tangled up in one of the worst messes I had come across yet. I felt badly for her. "Not every witch has magesight. No uninitiated witch does, except you, I suppose. And not every full-blood witch has it. It does seem to run strongly in Woodbanes."

A flash of anger crossed her face and her words matched it when she spoke. "Then you must have it, since you're half Woodbane."

I was a bit surprised that Cal had been speaking about me. I hadn't expected him to, let alone to tell Morgan as much of the truth as he had – or seemed to have. "Yes, I do. In me, it developed when I was about fifteen. I thought it had to do with puberty, like getting a beard."

I expected a smile but I shouldn't have. Morgan was clearly upset to have me there, though since I had done nothing wrong, I couldn't be sure why.

"What are you doing here?"

The anger didn't go away any and I held back that smile, afraid she'd take it the wrong way. I couldn't for long though, after explaining that I was redrawing my protection sigils and she huffed about, unsure what was going on and stuck in the middle of both Cal and I seeming to want to help her. If he was afraid that I'd spell her in some way, Cal had the wrong impression of me as well. Unlike him, I didn't work in such an underhanded and _unwarranted_ manner.

And of course we ended up talking about Cal. I knew far more than she did but Morgan simply didn't want to listen to me. She had every reason to be upset but it wasn't _me_ that was causing it.

But I was the person there and I was the one making her upset. She looked like she was about to cry as our conversation went on and I drew back, unsure of how to help her.

Being new to all of this, having someone like _Cal_ to do who-knows-what to her perception of magick, to be caught up in a murder conspiracy that she wanted no part of…

I started talking about the past, about the deaths, about my own pain. I thought it might help. Anything would be better than to watch her hurt so much. None of it was her fault. She was the golden deer though and there were so many hunters out there after her.

Bringing up my brother hurt, but she was the one who ended up asking me. I could see why but it was hard to get rid of the pain or the guilt. The anger from not having any of my own answers made my own words hardly as comforting as I had planned.

But I didn't want to lie to her.

Morgan knew what I did, knew why, and as I spoke to her about it, she looked scared. I hadn't meant to scare her, just… I just couldn't seem to stop talking. Going over when she shivered in the freezing air, I reached out, trying to keep her warm. I had to smile to myself at the foolish gesture. It was practically bred into me by me mentors, but I could hardly be any warmer than her. My fingers weren't healed yet and they were numb themselves.

When she took a step back I didn't move. I was clearly in her space and I didn't know why I had gotten so close. She was simply a girl, upset with the truth of the situation, upset with the past, and would have to get over it.

Without warning, I went over to her, touching her. She'd made contact with me but this was the first contact I had made with her that didn't involve grabbing onto her jacket in some way. Her face was so warm under my fingertips that I was afraid I was simply chilling her more and I couldn't seem to care.

Eyes glowing like crystals with the water flowing behind them, I found myself drawn to her like I never was to another human being.

They showed off a world of sadness and all I wanted to do was fall into that world too, where we could hurt together, be healed together, somehow take this pain and just throw it off – together.

Until she pushed me away I didn't realize I'd been about to kiss her.

Shocked and apologizing, I watched her take off around the corner, getting my head back in order as I heard sounds of a struggle.

Something was clearly happening in her front yard, though what it was I couldn't tell from just the sounds. The part of me that was trained to handle situations like this completely took over and that part of me running on emotions that were too confusing for even myself got shoved in the back as duty took over.

Thank the Goddess for sexual harassment.

…

I'd blame my actions on my fever. Sky was with Morgan, watching her. I hadn't had time to get well for long. I knew I was still tired, weaker than I should be, to be trying to put up any kind of fight against Selene and the others in my condition.

I had tea, sitting near the fire, fighting to calm down and relax for a bit.

_Hunter!_

I damn near spilled the hot tea on myself, the floor taking the damage instead. I looked around, regretting it, and put a hand to my neck. "Morgan?" I didn't think she knew where I lived. It took a second or two longer than it should have for me to realize she wasn't in the room with me.

I knew she was able to send out messages. I didn't realize that they came in quite that _loudly_. No wonder Sky had been able to find me. It likely woke her up out of sleep.

_Morgan? _I thought back, using the adrenaline to pick up some extra energy. _Morgan? What's wrong? Where are you?_

No answer. I knew there were places she could be that would stop my messages from getting through, but those places would have also stopped hers from coming to me. What was wrong?

I threw on my coat, hearing my cell go off at the same time. Digging into my pocket, knowing that very few people had my number, I answered Sky's call.

"What is it?"

"It's Morgan. Hunter, listen, I met her in the woods. We were talking and… and Selene is definitely after her. She ran off. I thought it would be okay but-"

"Calm down. Where did she go?"

There was noise, as if there were others around her. "Sky?"

"I'm not sure. She was here a little while ago. Bree called me. All I know is that she went west."

That wasn't the most unhelpful bit of information so I filed it away for later. I had to figure out where Bree lived but I'd be going over there myself first. "Wait for me-" Damn. I forget I didn't have my car. "Never mind. Come get me." There were no buses in this area. I had no idea why not. Everything was so far _away_.

"Alright."

I hung up without saying goodbye, shoving my shoes on and grabbing my hat off the stand, hoping I wasn't too late as I waited impatiently on the step.

* * *

…

Sky informed me when she arrived that Bree Warren and Robbie, two of the people I had met while looking into Cal, had gone off to find Morgan. There wasn't anything I could do about that, or any way I could have stopped them, so it didn't matter much.

Hands tight at my side, I ushered my cousin into her own car after a few quick words to her. "Find them. They can't have gone far. Something obviously happened. We'll check out Selene's place first."

Short and to the point, she took off as I barely slid into my own seat, not bothering with the belt. I threw out my senses, trying to find a witch, _any_ witch, I could on my way to the house. I had no idea where Morgan was, could do nothing to help her, but if I stopped the others I could deal with any issues that had her calling out to all of us after.

I was too late. Everything in me was telling me I was too late.

My senses picked up on _nothing_, an odd occurrence, what with how many others were around. All I could sense was Sky beside me, any other magick in the area dampened down so much it wouldn't even wet a rag.

Dammit. I tried not to take my anger out on the car, passing a few places of interest before seeing smoke off in the direction of Selene's house. It didn't take a genius to at least guess at what happened.

I stayed close to the car as the both of us looked for the others. They weren't the untrained witches that Morgan was, and she'd nearly killed me when she caught me off guard. I wasn't about to let myself falter as I walked into the lion's den – albeit, one that was on fire and likely had no occupants anymore, but still a lion's den.

Nothing. I picked up on nothing and sighed, seeing Sky shake her head. All I had to do was tip my head back to the car, so we could find them before they slipped away, when those thoughts fled from me.

Morgan and the other two people that I didn't know by more than their name, were around the corner, the large vehicle Morgan drove sticking out of the back yard pool house like an un-hammered nail.

I walked over there on instinct, first duty to protect the innocents – as it was too late to stop the aggressors. Sky's silent footsteps were at my side.

I spoke as if on autopilot, radiating as much authority as I could, given that I knew the situation better than they did and they knew nothing more than my name either. All fell in line, even the fiery girl who did nothing but hiss and spit hatred at me, dulled down now by the weight of reality.

It was a hard thing to face.

Numb with cold and wearing a jacket unsuited for the weather, I led the most vulnerable of them away myself. For all I knew Selene and her people would be back – and I wasn't about to let the others get in the middle of anything.

Sky was a strong girl. All it took was another nod and she was off, trailing after our enemies in the hopes of hunting them down.

That thought just ticked me off even more, the coughing, trembling girl at my side the only reason I didn't hop into her car to take off after them as well.

Morgan looked so vulnerable to me now.

She wasn't the person I had thought she was going to be. So young and so strong, with no way of knowing which way was right or left and nothing except a backwards teacher himself to lead her along the way, it was no wonder she lashed out at me so much. She was Alice, in her own wonderland, and I was the cat, telling her all her friends were liars and leading her down a path she didn't want to go.

I didn't apologize. I had done nothing wrong. She didn't either, hoarse with pain and nearly white. She'd been trapped in that fire I had seen, it was easy enough to tell, and barely made it out of there breathing.

I couldn't pry her for answers even after I got to the house. I didn't even ask for them this time. Whatever happened, I'd know soon enough. Getting her washed and cleaned and comfortable came first. I was hardly a doctor and it took all that was in me not to check her for a fever or wounds as I sent her upstairs.

Sky entered just before this, unsuccessful. That only scared the poor girl more as they both retreated upstairs and I was left with my thoughts for a bit.

So many gone. So much more destruction they could cause and now I had no _hook_ to grab them with! Morgan almost died being the bait! I hadn't put her in that position, she had, but that meant nothing now. I lost them. I lost them all.

"Hey."

I turned to Sky, watching her come back down the stairs. Her eyes were on me as well as she went over to the couch and sat.

What was I supposed to do now?

"It's not over yet." Sky's eyes darted to the stairs a moment. "It'll be obvious when she's not dead. Who knows what they'll do."

Yes, protecting Morgan seemed to be the next best thing to do. We were as good as going to use her as bait once more and the idea infuriated me that I wasn't able to find these people on my own. "I know."

We didn't share any more words as she stood back up and made tea while I went over to start the small fire. We didn't have any heating and my body was doing a bad job of keeping itself warm at the moment.

A while later Sky came back in, the fact that there were only two cups when she brought in the tea catching my attention.

I didn't get the chance to ask why before Morgan was walking down the stairs and Sky excused herself, leaving me alone. It was probably better this way, easier, to have less of an audience for this.

Then I was working again, asking her questions that hurt her so much she looked like she was about to cry. I couldn't help it, I had to know. I had to know what she knew, had to know if there was _some_ silver lining that could come from this.

Morgan was alive. Her tools, the articles of power that Selene couldn't possibly ignore were still here, safe, and would draw her back just as much as Morgan still breathing would.

It was a lot to bear. I reached out when hysteria looked like it was about to take her, sharing some healing energy with her, watching her startled, pain-stricken eyes widen as she met mine, hearing her _thank_ me of all things when she had nearly just died because I hadn't been watching close enough.

I couldn't help the smile. It wasn't going to happen again. I wanted to help her. Goddess, half of me didn't even want to stop there. I wanted to put my arms around her and hold her and get my answers at the same time I would comfort her in a way that would be far past the boundaries of professional.

What was wrong with me? So much had changed in just a few days… and touching her, watching her surprise and wanting to take away her sadness, I had a fleeting feeling that a lot more was going to change.

I would have to be ready for it.


End file.
